Alla Deriva
by girlwiththeblackinkpen
Summary: It is strangely poetic as she hits the water, ram-rod straight. AU. memory-loss fic. SPITFIRE


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"_It was strangely poetic as she hit the water, ram-rod straight."_

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**alla deriva: Italian for "adrift"**

Wally doesn't like these people. They expect him to remember, but he can't. In fact, he doesn't even remember this so-called 'incident' where he had lost his memory. Linda places a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and she smiles reassuringly. Wally would like to think he knows people pretty well, and Linda seems like a good enough person. Besides, his father had assured him that Linda was a good person, and who was he to doubt what his father said. ... right? Wally swishes the champagne in his glass around for a second, blankkly watching the bubbles rise to the surface of the liquid and then fizzle out with silent pops.

Linda seems to squint at something out on the balcony, where the pool is, and she smiles at Wally, "I'll be right back."

Wally nods blankly. Linda is talking to her. The blond. He forgets her name. He thinks it started with an 'A' but he can't remember for sure.

Later, they're all gathered together. All the people and Wally and Linda stand at the front of crowd. Linda beams because she gets to tell them the good news.

… it is good news, right?

"…we've gathered you here just to tell you…" Linda continues, "that Wally and I have decided to study abroad!"

Scattered applause. He catches the gaze of the blond and his heart skips a beat. She looks so sad and disappointed.

The other guy, what was his name? Kal? Kal places a hand on the blonde's shoulder and they both turn away. Wally watches them walk to the pool, and then Kal says something and then leaves. The girl looks out into the distance, seemingly deep in thought. Wally wants to talk to her, shake her shoulders and ask her what's wrong.

Wally hands Linda his glass, "I'll be right back."

Linda nods and Wally walks off, going toward the pool.

It's not until he's staring into her eyes that he realizes he doesn't know what to say. He turns to leave, but she stops him.

"Wally…" she says, and her voice is quiet and firm. Her silver eyes gleam in the moonlight.

"What do you want?" Wally says, and suddenly he can't control the frustration and anger from seeping into his voice.

The girl pauses and takes something out from her pocket and holds it out to him, "Here, souvenir."

Wally glares at it. It's a bracelet, with a tiny gold arrow that says W+A. He glares blankly at it. Is he supposed to know what that means?

"What do you want me do?" Wally asks testily.

"Take it," the girl shakes the bracelet.

"No. If you don't want it, then it's trash. And you should throw away your own trash," Wally says. The bracelet is stirring a weird feeling in his stomach that he doesn't like, and the sooner the girl puts it away, the better.

The girl nods, and only hesitates for a second before throwing it into the pool. It lands with a soft splash.

"You're going to clog the filter," Wally says, watching as the bracelet glimmers as it falls to the bottom of the pool.

The girl looks even more downcast, seemingly having been expecting something. Her lips thin, "This isn't you. You're not the Wally West I know."

"What do you know!" Wally roars. Because he wants to know. He wants to know what's wrong with him, what's wrong with her.

"You hate these kinds of things," the girl says, "I know you do. I don't know why you agreed to do this, but you – _the real you _– would've refused to do it back then. You hate girls like Linda. You think they're vapid and airheaded. You don't like to wear jackets like that, and you've had the same hairstyle for six years, and I don't see why you decided to change it now. It was probably because of _her,_" she adds as an afterthought.

Wally's vision is white. He's so confused, and he hates her for making him this way, "Who are you to tell me these things! You don't know me!" He's sobbing now because he's just so tired and sad. He's exhausted because he doesn't know what to believe now.

"I'm sorry, Wally," the girl breathes, and her eyes shimmer a little, "I'm really sorry."

"Just leave me alone!" Wally says, and he makes to walk away again, but he's stopped again. The girl has grabbed his wrist, and a single tear trails down her cheek.

"Just do one thing for me, Wally, and then I'll leave you alone," the girl says.

"What?" Wally snaps.

The girl takes a deep breath, "…say my name?"

Wally blinks blankly at her. He can't remember her name, so what did she expect from him? The girl seems to read his expression and she nods, taking a slight step back. And then another, and another, until she's standing at the edge of the pool, her back facing the water and her eyes on him.

"That's all I want, Wally," she whispers, and then she falls back.

Her green wrap seems to follow the trail of her fall as she succumbs to gravity, her eyes wide open. Wally watches in shock as she seems to grope for the bracelet at the bottom of the pool and her hands close around it. She presses her lips to her hand in some sort of farewell, and she stops moving, her eyes slowly closing. He hears footsteps and the sound of people coming towards where he is.

And suddenly, in the wake of everything that is happening, he remembers.

.

.

.

The girl in his arms, the girl kissing him, the girl kicking him, the girl helping him. And the time that he wasn't there for the girl.

And of course, the girl's choked scream as the car rams into him, throwing his head back and making everything white -

_Artemis_

He doesn't know when he jumped into the water, but soon Artemis is in his arms and she's coughing and spluttering and she's leaning against Wally and his arms are wrapped around her tightly. Her eyes flutter open, silver and shiny in the light of the full moon.

"…do you remember now?" Artemis croaks, her hair pressed against her forehead.

Wally nods, and presses a kiss to her forehead.

"Say it for me?" Artemis whispers.

"What?"

"My name."

"_Artemis._ Artemis. Artemis. Artemis."


End file.
